The Globe's sports section gets a makeover

Published Aug 14 2008, 07:27 PM by Adam Reilly

Amalie Benjamin is taking over for Gordon Edes as the paper's Red Sox beat writer. Also, Tony Massarotti is jumping from the Herald for a new online-focused job. Plus, Boston.com gets a new sports reporter!

Here's the memo* sports editor Joe Sullivan sent this afternoon:

We have some very exciting changes to announce in the sports department.
Amalie Benjamin will succeed Gordon Edes as the Red Sox beat writer. As everyone can see, she's already on the job and ready for a pennant race.
Tony Massarotti will join the Globe from the Herald in the first week of September. Tony's job is a newly created position as he will become the face and voice of boston.com sports, featured prominently on the sports home page. Tony's insights and unique style will also appear in the print edition.
Chad Finn, a part-time copy editor on the sports desk, has been named to the newly created position of sports news reporter for boston.com. Chad, who will begin his duties the first week of September, will keep the website updated with fresh and interesting items during the day. The rest of the Globe staff will continue to contribute to the sports blogs on the site.
Corey Allen, a former all-star co-op in the sports department, will join the sports desk as a part-time copy editor, replacing Chad.

Wish them all good luck.

As a non-Sox fan, it's tough for me to judge the Benjamin hire. Any Sox-centric readers care to offer their thoughts on Benjamin's coverage?

P.S.--I should have offered a quick take on Massarotti. While I found his post-Tomasegate column baffling, I tend to like his stuff when I read it--and when I interviewed him for a sports bloggers v. MSM sports reporters piece a few weeks back, he struck me as a smart, thoughtful guy. As for Chad Finn, he's obviously landed himself a terrific job.

*NOTE: I originally omitted the beginning and end of Sullivan's memo because I didn't have them, but now the first and last grafs have been added. Let the record show that Sullivan is not a weirdly brusque email writer.

Filed Under: Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Boston Red Sox

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10 Comments

Rich said:

Benjamin is on the beat. Just mae sure she keeps her eyes up.

August 14, 2008 9:08 PM
Benny said:

She's probably the best pure writer they've ever had - just look at yesterday's 19-17 story. Sweet.

August 14, 2008 10:44 PM
banky said:

Amalie is exactly what the Globe needs. She brings a fresh perspective to a section that's had the same writers grinding the same axes for years now. Her writing is top shelf as well. I've been enjoying Finn's blog for a while now, putting him on the boston.com sports beat is a stroke of genius. The Herald had the superior sports section for several years, but has done nothing impressive on the web. The Globe has clearly figured out that the future is online; in one fell swoop they've made their paper sports section superior and completely owned the online sports news space.

August 15, 2008 10:12 AM
Brad Deltan said:

I like Amalie's stuff, she brings a much-appreciated fresh perspective to the beat AND she's not a newbie who's unaware of history. She also helps break up the sausagefest, as the saying goes...and the nice thing is that while she's certainly young and perfectly good-looking, she's clearly NOT just there because she's a hottie (unlike some OTHER women who've covered the Sox for some other media, who clearly were there SOLELY because they were hotties).

August 15, 2008 10:50 AM
hugh meighan said:

Tony Massarotti is (in my opinion) the finest baseball writer Boston has had since the great Peter Gammons left the Globe for ESPN. He is funny, intelligent, witty, and unafraid to be opinionated. He is a huge loss for the struggling Herald, and makes one wonder how they hung on to him this long. His Celtics coverage was also above average, and having heard him on WEEI, he is a well rounded personality. does this mean the end of his appearances on the big show- now that he's officially going to be employed by the New York Times Corporation's Boston money pit? This is a good step towards the Globe's recapturing those "must read" days of Will McDonough and Peter Gammons. Oh, and Benjamin is clearly a talented writer and does excellent work on NESN, so it is nice to see her get a chance at greater exposure.

August 16, 2008 1:16 PM

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The Globe's sports section gets a makeover

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